Is the end drawing near for Colombian terrorist organisation Farc?

Colombian terrorist group Farc freed ten hostages last week after holding many of them in captivity for more than a decade. After nearly 50 years of jungle fighting is the guerilla group facing defeat?

âHe saw my mobile and asked me what it was,â said Doris Moreno. âHe didnât know that mobiles existed, didnât know how to pick it up and speak with it.âHe could be forgiven for not recognising a mobile phone. Last week, he was released with nine other police and army officers after being held for nearly 14 years by the rebel group Farc (the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia).

On his release last Tuesday, fellow army sergeant Robinson Salcedo failed to recognise something much more important. His son. Jonathan Salcedo was only four at the time of his capture in 1998. As a present for the teenager, his father brought him some parakeets from the jungle that was his prison.

The releases brought joy to the families of those involved but there was little triumphalism among politicians keen to bring Farc to its knees.

The ten men were the last soldiers and police being held by the rebel group to be freed, but Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos wants more.Dismissing the possibility of peace talks, he called on Farc to make a similar move with the civilians it has kidnapped and still holds.

There is no way of putting a definitive figure on how many civilians Farc holds hostage.

According to the non-governmental organisation País Libre, it has 400 captives, most of whom were kidnapped for ransom. However, more realistic estimates place the figure at somewhere between 30 and 50.

Juan Manuel Santos said that was a positive step but ânot enoughâ. Mr Santos has upped the ante on Farc in recent months and the military, backed by the US, have had successes.

Farcâs previous leader Alfonso Cano was killed in a firefight last November, while more than 60 rebels were killed by two separate military air strikes last month. Farc has been fighting for almost 50 years, making it Latin Americaâs longest running insurgency. But is it facing the end of the road?

âTheyâve clearly been weakened compared to a decade ago,â said British author Garry Leech, writer of The Farc: The Longest Insurgency, which was published last year.

âTheir territorial control has been diminished dramatically. There are many parts of the country now where they donât maintain a visible presence whereas ten years ago you couldnât enter those regions without running into the Farc. But within those strongholds they are still a potent military force and have strong ties with the communities theyâve traditionally lived among.â

Attacks by Farc rebels on the military and the police have increased in the past few years.

At the weekend, one of Farcâs leaders claimed the military had failed to weaken it. Hours later, six soldiers were killed by Farc in the north-west of the country.

David Maher, co-founder of the Latin American Research Cluster at the University of Kent, said: âI donât think theyâll fold any time soon. They still have a strong rebel army.

âItâs been going for so long, itâs involved in so many different activities, itâs been such a strong and big rebel group.â

Although Mr Maher accepted the loss of revenue from kidnappings could push Farc towards the negotiating table for peace talks, he thinks more violence is on its way in the short term.

âI think the conflict will continue, especially while there are large amounts of poverty, large amounts of inequality. There is a huge amount of unequal land distribution in rural areas.â

GarryÂ Leech added: âThe government and the military believe they have got the Farc on the defensive and they donât want to let up. They donât want to sit down at a negotiating table and have to legitimise the Farc by engaging in talks.â With the money from kidnaps for ransom, at least publicly, a thing of the past, Farc will concentrate on its other income streams, extortion and drugs.â

Perhaps the world shouldnât hold itsÂ breath for a swift resolution.

Twenty-five per cent of Colombia is Amazon rainforest, it has three mountain ranges and some peaks rise to 6,000m (20,000ft). Its porous borders also make it an ideal terrain to wage guerilla warfare for years.